Beginning F1 - Suggestions and more

federicoC said:

Thanks William, Keilani what do you say? Do they match closer to your suggestion? Next time I do the ground rows I will nevertheless raise the rings 4-5cm, this is too borderline.

 

I thought skiers and twisting squats aim mostly at working on the knees. There are bunch of other exercises for medium glutes and adductors/abductors, isn't it? While I'm fine with the skiers (and feel like I'm still gaining ROM) I feel like I have to be way more careful with the twisting squats. Perhaps I started too low or lowered too fast but this morning I had the feeling my ligaments/soft tissues in the knee were targeted too heavily. I don't want to injury myself by going too fast on this element. Rather, I may continue with a slower pace and perform more WU sets with PE1 and work on the ROM of the cossack.

ground row looks loads better! 

 

try visualizing this next workout: hollow out at the bottom and keep everything rigid during the reps. at the arms, imaging you are pulling your elbows downward. you improved the line loads since last i saw the vid, just gotta focus on not letting your body pike at the hips when you go to reach the top.

 

as for the mechanics of the movements, they do target knees, it's that the same muscles that insert at the knees have an origin in the pelvis. the iM portion of F series has a way of working through a matrix(for example, as my skiers have gotten better, so have my swivel hips)

Thanks Keilani, will implement that. 

 

@Bipocni, in my opinion the point is not "wait until...", the point is that I would like to know the rationale behind this. I want to keep my WO as safe as possible from potential injuries. Here, I overlooked a bit and figured out I should now give my body some weeks, not some sessions, to reach the floor.

federicoC said:

Thanks Keilani, will implement that.

@Bipocni, in my opinion the point is not "wait until...", the point is that I would like to know the rationale behind this. I want to keep my WO as safe as possible from potential injuries. Here, I overlooked a bit and figured out I should now give my body some weeks, not some sessions, to reach the floor.

you can make a small chair or platform to sit on and do them from a higher setting. that's what Fred has been doing and with success

That's also what Mark suggested and this is what I'm going to do, adding the rotation right away and see how do I feel afterwards.

have you considered also holding onto something for assistance? you can alwo add that to a list of options, if the discomfort continues or pops up during or after a session

KeilaniG said:

(...) that's what Fred has been doing and with success

 

hehehe... sort of...

Stalled for 2 months and back to 4 inches high because of slight inner knee pain...

These things take time.

 

To me, both cossack and twisting squats are addressing ankle flexibility, but I am sure that others will see improvements in their hips.

Thanks Fred, I will try to proceed along this line. Perfectly understand that rushing on something like this might be deleterious. I will work towards full control of the eccentric first.

When I started these I had severe patella tendonitis. I slowly progressed and can now do the 5x10. My tendonitis has also resolved. As long as you progress gradually your body will adapt and your joints will be fine.

Good to know. Thanks Mark!

 

F7 today. Video with different elements (HBR, table, ABH, ground rows, stretching)

 

 

The general feeling is that I'm getting used to intensity and WO duration. Overall I feel better. 

On the HBR I could not manage to get out 4x36r, I got 30, 26, 24, 24. I will try to shot for 4x30r on Sunday, while I will use Friday session for deload work and Im focus. I could do a 4x36s of ABH, I really loose the arch in the end but it's an improvement overall. Cossack look very deep to me, and I worked on the twist squats from 3 x mats as height reference. There I have problems. Every time I rotate my shins get into contact and provide friction, I can't really get down smoothly. Need to look at the video again and again and spot out the details.

 

A question on the push ups. I got 15,15,12,10r today. Is it OK to pause at top position between reps? To get 12 in set 3 and 10 in set 4, I basically changed my tempo and paused 2-3" at top position before squeezing another rep (with good form). I was wondering whether this is allowed or not.

 

Very happy with the straight line body I got in the ground rows (Keilani, is that good implementation of your suggestions?). Managed to get 10,10,10,8r of that form out of it. Shot for 4x10 next time.

 

At the end of the video I recorded myself performing the lower back stretch from Kit. Seems like I'm improving substantially also in my hamstrings. Windmills are getting back to previous ROM, still 5-10cm to go without forcing.

glad the pain is going away that is ALWAYS a relief, isn't it? 

 

the rows look excellent! ( looks like it had more to do with how you felt the exercise than performance issues, nevertheless, it looks great now ) 

 

as for the pushups, I'm not quite there yet, so i have no idea what to tell ya! (cause the voice in my head is saying: keep tempo, no grinding reps) so for the sake of argument, I wouldn't doubt that after a few cycles of repeating week 9-11, you'd be able to bust them all out, grind free. that's what I'd think everyone here, including coach, would expect from me, if i claimed mastery and moved onto working on PPP. 

FredInChina said:

hehehe... sort of...

Stalled for 2 months and back to 4 inches high because of slight inner knee pain...

These things take time.

 

To me, both cossack and twisting squats are addressing ankle flexibility, but I am sure that others will see improvements in their hips.

like i said, with success calibration and having to move back to avoid injury is exactly what you suggested to me on RC and my elbow's bounced back from it, unscathed  

Thanks Keilani, then I wait for others opinion on the PU.

 

Sadly this night I could not sleep and woke up with a quite deep sore throat. No training today. Interesting to see that despite regular kcal intake, this fact always cuts 0.8-1kg to my BW right away and requires me 1-2 weeks to get back.

Yesterday I did F7, deload schemes. Everything felt nice. However, my sore throat converted to a congestion and today I should certainly not train. 

Another thing that is puzzling me is that despite having further increased kcal intake over the last month, my BW is still stable. More on this to come.

federicoC said:

Yesterday I did F7, deload schemes. Everything felt nice. However, my sore throat converted to a congestion and today I should certainly not train. 

Another thing that is puzzling me is that despite having further increased kcal intake over the last month, my BW is still stable. More on this to come.

Yes, you should listen to your body, if he needs a break for recovery

Oh, here the same. Since starting F1(a months ago) i increased my calories from 2.800 to 3000-3100 and nothing happend to my weight, but 3x a week training or more needs more i think. theres one thing i noticed in my life(im what you call hardgainer), if i want to put on mass, increasing a little makes nothing, body is just thinking "are you kiddin me you want size? than eat a lot more!"

So after testing out whats my calorie-standard when doing sport, i will increase to 3400 and testing this fot 3-4 weeks, than again increasing. Its normal for guys like us, if i can say that.

I understand, I'm even more hardgainer than the average hardgainer. 

 

But...I stayed put for 3 weeks at 2700-2800 kcal. My BW was even increasing from 71 to stably 72kg. Since then, I further raised my intake to 3200-3300, this is 500 kcal more on average and despite this - 3 weeks later - I'm 71.8. This seems quite strange to me, my consumption related to physical activity cannot explain this, as even before F1 I was spending 3/4 days of calisthenics + 2 swimming sessions per week.

maybe you had not found the right ratio between fat, protein, carbs and your body is not very effective in working with one of these things. or you are not eating in the right window of time. the day after workout you should eat more, i think 24 hours after the wo itself is quite common. But yes, theres a secret im not getting behind, like you say, you eat a lot more and the body is not changing at all. i dont know where the body puts the calories...last year i gained from 72-78kg in 2 months and i raised my calories from 3000 to 3800-4000. but that was really hard to get every day. now i'm back to 70.5kg and want gain again. maybe it just takes more time for our body to response, because i feel like after doing a new sport for 2-3months, my body gets a jump in power and muscle mass, and after another 2-3months again. its not linear processing to me. maybe the same for you?

That the increase is nonlinear, it's certainly possible and I believe also in a way reported by several people involved in different tests. However, I'm not willing to push/force myself to eat more. This is at least not part of my healthy lifestyle

I will wait and collect data for another 3-4 weeks and then I think we are ready to analyze this a little bit more into details. 

Felt better, did F7. 

 

I don't see any improvement on the HBR, still 30-26-24-24 with form that deteriorates. I will stay put at week 6 also next week. 

Lots of improvements in everything else. Scap shrugs are easy now, even high reps. Swivel are getting better. Second time I can finish a 4x36s of ABH. On the push up I could get out a 15,15,15,12! Finally, now it's matter to see if I can do that again. Could complete 4x10 of ground rows as well.

 

The only negative note in on the SLS. I did not do the Im, as it caused swollen of my meniscus (or at least of the surrounding region) over the last 2/3 days.

First session of my mastery week. Tough. A short summary.

 

1) HBR. I could get 30,30,24,24r out. Table looks improved and I can do it easier than before.

2) Scap shrugs, 5x15r done, feasible and very good feeling. On the swivel I improved but sadly I think I pulled something - perhaps the adductor - on my left leg during my last session. I could not get any close to my usual ROM today with my left leg.

3) ABH, I could consistently get the 4x36s out, but my ROM today was not my best for sure. I suffered.

4) tuck ups, 5x15r. Windmills back to my previous ROM! And my shoulders are gaining ROM. I step back to 4kg at the moment to build up the movement. I think at the next minicycle I can attempt mastery, perhaps.

5) Cossack, I reduced the ROM due to the pain in my left leg. I did only 5 reps of twisting squats from usual height. In the WU, doing deck squats I felt discomfort and pain in the posterior part of both knees. I suppose it's the meniscus, not sure. Skiers definitely gained ROM even just by using them as WU

6) Push ups. Yes, I got 15,15,15,12 as last time. Suffered, but it seems something is slowly moving.

7) Ground rows, 10,10,10,10,8. So...I'm close to mastery. I recorded a set and still looks very good to me. On this ones, should I be able to perform 5x10r on Sunday, can I claim mastery or does mastery would require 5x10r at each session of the mastery week and it would be better to perform the last minicycle again?

 

Finished with some RTO support (video), leg extension and Kit's work.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

On the support it looks like your arms are touching the rings.

Yes, I confirm, the back of my forearms does but they don't contribute any "active work". Should I try to get rid of this as well? Any other comment?

 

Could someone please let me know if there is "anything official" about my previous question:

 

should I be able to perform 5x10r on Sunday, can I claim mastery or does mastery would require 5x10r at each session of the mastery week and it would be better to perform the last minicycle again?

federicoC said:

Yes, I confirm, the back of my forearms does but they don't contribute any "active work". Should I try to get rid of this as well? Any other comment?

 

Easy rule is "no touching of the rings, except your hands" , no excuse to this!

Good to know. Will work on it then. This is the only "extra" I add generally once a week to F1, for what concern GST related elements.

Yeah, im doing it once a week, too. I'm doing Support Hold, German Hang, and ONE set of Ringdips and Ring-Pullups for staying fit in these exercises and for fun It's not affecting regeneration.

Thanks William, I appreciate your help.

 

I've been "morally beated up" because I didn't suffer from injuries for years - typically not even during my PL competitions - and I'm getting all sorts of troubles now with F1, which is suppose to be "safe". My knees still hurt, I guess it's the meniscus. Hamstring injury is just over. Hope this is going to get better. I'm looking forward to improve.